Hints From The Panel

If you watched the most recent Playing Dead episode, there's a lot of subtext to read into. You can get a lot of information from the video, which is here ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QngiVxj3RZU ) if you haven't seen it. This - video and the analysis here - will contain spoilers, so this is your final warning.

Endings:

Walking Dead will have one ending. This has been set in stone from the start and it was stated in the video that it is not going to changed. So, while Jurassic Park had two (or three endings, if you count dying at the very end as another), it sounds like Walking Dead will have one set, unavoidable ending.

Perverse Events:

Gary Whitta states that he pushed for the most messed up and foul scenarios he could imagine, and caused everyone - including Dave Fennoy - to recoil. While I didn't think so at first, I now believe that the man over the radio is a lecherous rapist. Let's all have a tub full of bleach for when we're done with episode 4 ready.

Tailored:

In the panel, the designers give a more clear definition of what "tailored gameplay" means. You have a game that fits with you, but you aren't "making clothes yourself", in a way that allows your choices to dictate everything. The game is "handed to you" to put in the final bit of input. This means that your choices will never matter in any way deeper than how it resonates with your own morality. But it also goes against another quote from the panel about the big mysterious choice that's been long rumored in Episode 4. Episode 4's choice is described as "so crazily consequential and branching" by Gary Whitta at the 30 minute mark.

What does that mean about choice? That this is the biggest break in the storyline and can change the story in a distinct way? Are all choices still small offshoots that quickly close back to the same inescapable plotline in the way that choices do in Mass Effect and Heavy Rain?

@Master of Aeons, why do you think walkie talkie guy is a lecherous rapist? I thought that a lot of people think he may be a potential pedo.

There is also the theory that maybe he's a red herring and that ultimately he isn't the threat you initially perceive him to be in episode three.

I think Zombie Boy has revised his opinion if Gary Whitta is deliberately pushing boundaries.

Master of Aeons;684887 said:

What does that mean about choice? That this is the biggest break in the storyline and can change the story in a distinct way?

Maybe it's somewhat along the lines of the Carley/Doug decision in episode one. Regardless of who you save, eventually it's almost like fate corrects itself and they do die.

This game is very much about perception. Perhaps the end result is inevitable but there are different avenues to get there and how you get there creates a different impression, somewhat like Lilly stealing the RV. When she looks back at Lee before driving away, the graphics are the same, but people interpret that scene differently depending on how they played.

Yeah, I used to think the guy on the radio was something a lot less threatening when you meet him. He'd still be a villain, but I didn't think he was the pedophile that everyone suspected at the beginning. I've revised my opinion and now think he's going to do stuff that's gonna make me sick.

As far as endings go, I want lots and lots of different endings. One ending sounds like a let down to me. But they refer to ending in the singular, which has me uneasy. Though I like Milo's take on the ending difference. Maybe past episode 4, Clementine gets sick of you making decisions for her and, while you need each other and stay together no matter what decisions you make, Clem stops trusting/liking Lee. That'd be a good launch for a different Season 2. Clem and Lee together through it all. She might love you more, she might hate you.

I hope 8Bit's Theory is right too. Having a larger scale enemy would bring a nice climax to the series. I hope he lasts longer than the other "one shot" villains.

Yeah, I used to think the guy on the radio was something a lot less threatening when you meet him. He'd still be a villain, but I didn't think he was the pedophile that everyone suspected at the beginning. I've revised my opinion and now think he's going to do stuff that's gonna make me sick.

For me it went down the exact opposite. I really don't see the point of a pedophile drawing some cild near him, knowing she is travelling with 3+ armed adults protecting it. Pedos are mentally ill but not necessarily stupid.

Master of Aeons;685279 said:

As far as endings go, I want lots and lots of different endings. One ending sounds like a let down to me. But they refer to ending in the singular, which has me uneasy. Though I like Milo's take on the ending difference. Maybe past episode 4, Clementine gets sick of you making decisions for her and, while you need each other and stay together no matter what decisions you make, Clem stops trusting/liking Lee. That'd be a good launch for a different Season 2. Clem and Lee together through it all. She might love you more, she might hate you.

They refer to the ending in singular because it will be the end to "your" Lee story. This could mean one, or a million (yaey) outcomes.

Master of Aeons;685279 said:

I hope 8Bit's Theory is right too. Having a larger scale enemy would bring a nice climax to the series. I hope he lasts longer than the other "one shot" villains.

Note: Intentionell quote falsification to show the Master's true intend

Okay, so episode 4 has come and gone. I don't know what to make of some of these bits from the panel. The game has said to have an ending in mind all along and I think we all now know what that ending entails. While it seems like there's only one ending, episode 4's end had like 8 different possibilities (as far as party makeup goes). So if my point on one ending is right or wrong, Episode 4 hasn't answered.

Did anyone think anything was perverted in this game? I mean, there was the sexual favors in the video by Molly, but that wasn't too big. There was the implication of kids being abandoned to die. But I didn't really see what was so bad in this episode that made Fennoy call out the writing. Any thoughts on that?

So, if the panel was right and episode 4 contains the single most diverging choice in the series, what would it have been? I liked that there was a culmination of choices paying off in who stays with you through the end, but I wouldn't have listed that as a choice, more like an evaluation.

Okay, so episode 4 has come and gone. I don't know what to make of some of these bits from the panel. The game has said to have an ending in mind all along and I think we all now know what that ending entails. While it seems like there's only one ending, episode 4's end had like 8 different possibilities (as far as party makeup goes). So if my point on one ending is right or wrong, Episode 4 hasn't answered.

Did anyone think anything was perverted in this game? I mean, there was the sexual favors in the video by Molly, but that wasn't too big. There was the implication of kids being abandoned to die. But I didn't really see what was so bad in this episode that made Fennoy call out the writing. Any thoughts on that?

So, if the panel was right and episode 4 contains the single most diverging choice in the series, what would it have been? I liked that there was a culmination of choices paying off in who stays with you through the end, but I wouldn't have listed that as a choice, more like an evaluation.

What was the perverse event and what was the big choice?

I think Dave was just bummed out that his character got bit (I am too). As for the "big" choice, I think it's just a cumulation of who came with you at the end of the episode. Now let's hope that this changes episode 5 drastically.

Okay, so episode 4 has come and gone. I don't know what to make of some of these bits from the panel. The game has said to have an ending in mind all along and I think we all now know what that ending entails. While it seems like there's only one ending, episode 4's end had like 8 different possibilities (as far as party makeup goes). So if my point on one ending is right or wrong, Episode 4 hasn't answered.

You will always be right on the ending. There is one ending, very most likely with x variations. According to an interview with Gary W. and Jake R. the game will render an ending according to your choices, but you will not be able to choose one like in Mass Effect 3, or Deus Ex: Revolution.

Master of Aeons;698602 said:

Did anyone think anything was perverted in this game? I mean, there was the sexual favors in the video by Molly, but that wasn't too big. There was the implication of kids being abandoned to die. But I didn't really see what was so bad in this episode that made Fennoy call out the writing. Any thoughts on that?

Molly prostituted herself to the doctor. For the United States of America this needs to be mentioned... nothing perverse has to go on for Americans to go amok, a referrence to illegitimate sex is enough, paid sex even more... so better say it beforehand.

Master of Aeons;698602 said:

So, if the panel was right and episode 4 contains the single most diverging choice in the series, what would it have been? I liked that there was a culmination of choices paying off in who stays with you through the end, but I wouldn't have listed that as a choice, more like an evaluation.

Choosing the team you will enter Episode 5 with, is the most diverging choice I can think of right now, assuming it changes the next episode to a large degree.

Master of Aeons;698602 said:

What was the perverse event and what was the big choice?

No one ever said perverse sex would happen. The forum's community decided that a pervert was on the radio, the writers obviously didn't go along.

You will always be right on the ending. There is one ending, very most likely with x variations. According to an interview with Gary W. and Jake R. the game will render an ending according to your choices, but you will not be able to choose one like in Mass Effect 3, or Deus Ex: Revolution.

I'd believe that. You probably die surrounded by who you've kept alive, but the scene animates the same.